Packaging of compressible goods



Nov. 24, 1970 l. NESS 3,541,752

PACKAGING OF COMPRESSIBLE GOODS Filed June 7, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IIIIIII flaiier/z, Ware Xofiawls f1 TIORNEYASC Nov. 24, 1970 I 555 3,541,752

PACKAGING OF COMPRESSIBLE GOODS Filed June 7, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2- ill w E Q /60 V Q Q 24 Q Q Q O f c) Q 25 Q I Q o C; 21

22 55 INVENTOR.

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Nov. 24, 1970 l. NESS PACKAGING OF COMPRESSIBLE GOODS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 7, 1968 3: ,2: if 5; 2% z: 5

INVENTOR: I RVI N E N E. 5 51 HY'TOHNEYS United States Patent 3,541,752 PACKAGING 0F COMPRESSIBLE GOODS Irving Ness, 28 Pinnacle Rock Road, Stamford, Conn. 06903 Filed June 7, 1968, Ser. No. 735,350 Int. Cl. B65b 1/24, 7/28, 13/20 US. CI. 53-24 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to the packaging of compressible goods so as to permit shipment of the goods in relatively small containers or boxes. My invention is particularly directed toward the packaging of containers of compressible material such as shredded polyurethane so that they may be shipped at the least possible cost. More particularly my invention is directed toward the packaging of bags of compressible material, and even more particularly pillows. Since a bag and a pillow, when filled with a compressible material, present substantially the same packaging problem, I shall generally refer to pillows in describing my inventioin.

It will be appreciated that compressible pillows, as for example those pillows made of foam rubber, are relatively large, and that only a few may be packaged by conventional methods in a fairly large sized box or container. My invention is directed toward facilitating the packaging of a very considerable number of pillows of this class in a suitable box which will protect the pillows in their transportation, the pillows to emerge from the package in excellent condition and to show no wear or depreciation because of the packaging method utilized.

As a feature of my invention, I am able to compress into a box a series of stacked pillows, utilizing considerable force to bring about very effective compression of the pillows within the box, and without causing damage to the pillows. Particularly, the pillows are first preferably packaged in suitable plastic bags that have surfaces which will rub against one another with a minimum of friction. A material I have found effective for this purpose is manufactured by Goodyear and sold under the trademark Vitafilm. As a matter of interest, I have actually applied by packaging method to pillow shaped bags of Vitafilm filled with shredded foam. The bags will be suitably perforated so as to allow the escape of air from the pillows as they are compressed, and for this purpose, the cover of each pillow must naturally also be of a character allowing the escape of air.

The method I have adopted for compressing pillows of the class described within a box and caping the box with a cover, involves first the placing of a box in open condition within a suitable compression chamber that has walls for reinforcing and box. I then stack pillows within the box and above the box, and thereafter apply to the upper end of the stack of pillows a cover for the box. Naturally, the number of pillows which I stack will depend on the size of the box, the degree of compressibility of the pillows, the amount of compression to be effected, and the position of the cover relatively to the box in the finished package.

3,541,752 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Immediately upon applying compression to the cover, the pillows within the box and under the cover will act to force outwardly the vertical walls of the box and those of the cover, and for that reason, these walls must be reinforced by the walls of the compression chamber.

Suitable steps are taken for maintaining the pillows for movement inwardly into the box and past the upper edges of the walls of the box as the pillows are compressed by downward pressure on the box cover. These steps are of exceeding importance.

As a particular feature of the apparatus of my invention, I utilize for these steps a cam surface located in juxtaposition to the upper edges of the box walls for camming the pillows into the box. It will be understood that the vertical walls of the cover must also be maintained in effective position for entry into the box, and preferably I use this same camming action for camming the vertical walls of the cover, and thereby forcing the cover walls inwardly of the box.

For a clear understanding of this feature of the invention, it must be understood that the action of the socalled camming means on the cover walls takes place when the walls are being pressed outwardly because of the outward pressure of the pillows already in the cover. This step in my method is of particular significance and value, since it makes possible the controlled positioning of the cover walls by a cam or the like on one side, and by the pillows on the other side.

I have thus outlined rather broadly the more important features of my invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that my contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of my invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception on which my disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of my invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions as do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention, in order to prevent the appropriation of my invention by those skilled in the art.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is an elevation showing a machine embodying the apparatus of my invention and operating in accordance with the method of my invention. FIG. 2 illustrates a type of pillow or similar type of goods that may be packaged in accordance with the method of my invention and utilizing the apparatus. FIG. 3 is a vertical section through a part of FIG. 1 show ing the bottom of a box in the machine, a series of stacked pillows, and the cover of the box applied over the pillows at the top of the stack of pillows. FIG. 4 show the parts of FIG. 3 after the piston has moved downwardly and has compressed the pillows into the box and also relatively to the cover of the box. FIG. 5 illustrates the piston of the machine in a full downward position with the cover of the box moved downwardly into the final position it is adapted to reach. FIG. 6 is a section taken along 6--6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a package made in accordance with my invention. FIG. 8 is a view of a box similar to that of FIG. 7, but in which the cover has not been moved downwardly to the extent shown in FIG. 7, due to the fact the box probably contains more pillows than in FIG. 7, or because the compression of the pillows has not been as great as in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is an isometric view showing a part of the cam of my invention adapted to cam the box cover and the pillows relatively to the box tbottom positioned at the bottom of the compression cham- Referring now more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral indicates the frame of a machine heavily constructed for the purposes of my invention. At the top of the machine there is secured a cylinder 11 of a hydraulic ram having a piston 12 that is adapted for movement upwardly and downwardly in the cylinder 11 as fluid flows through pipes 13 and 14 to one end or the other of the cylinder 11. The fluid will flow to the pipes 13 and 14 through the utilization of a standard type of hydraulic pump 15 actuated by an electric motor 16, and suitable controls not shown.

The lower end of the piston 12 has secured thereto a pressure platen 17 that is adapted to apply pressure to the pillows that are to be packaged in the box to be utilized in connection with my invention. The compression of the pillows relatively to the box takes place in what I term a compression chamber designated generally by reference numeral 20 in FIG. 1, and also well shown in detail in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Preferably, the compression chamber, as well as the box utilized, is rectangular as best illustrated in FIG. 6. The bottom of the box of the invention is adapted to be placed on the bottom 22 of the compression chamber 20 as is well seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the box bottom there being designated by numeral 21.

It will be noted that the upper edges of the vertical walls of the box 21 lie just under a cam designated by reference numerals 23, and 24, the details of which are best shown in FIG. 9. The cam 23, 24 is naturally on all four walls of the compression chamber, as it is coextensive with the walls of the box. The part 23 of the cam 23, 24 presents a ledge, as well seen in FIG. 9, under which the upper edges of the vertical walls of the box bottom 21 will fit.

In utilizing my invention, and following the method of my invention, once the box bottom 21 is placed in the chamber with the upper edge of each of its walls under the cam portion 23, pillows such as shown in FIG. 2 and there designated by the letter P, are placed in the compression chamber 20, after first being deposited within the box as shown in FIG. 3. The pillows will be stacked in the box bottom and above the box in the manner shown, so as to be more readily compressed. As will be appreciated, items other than pillows, but falling generally in the same class, will be subject to packaging by use of my invention. Once the pillows are placed in the chamber as shown in FIG. 3, the cover of the box, designated by reference numeral is applied over the uppermost pillows P, as is also shown in FIG. 3, with its vertical walls extending downwardly encompassing some of the pillows.

At this point, pressure is applied to the ram cylinder 11 and piston 12, and the platen 17 starts the operation of the method. The first downward motion of the platen 17 will cause the pillows to become compressed and to exert an outward force on both the cover 30 and the box bottom 21. Of course, the pressure of the pillows outwardly against the walls of the box bottom 21 will be accepted by the walls of the chamber 20. The force exerted outwardly against the cover 30 will, as shown in FIG. 4, also be accepted by the walls of the chamber. In other words, the walls of the cover 30 and bottom 21 are always under pressure between the pillows and the chamber walls.

The purpose and functioning of the cam 23, 24 will be apparent from a study of FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, it will be noted that there are pillows just above the cam 24 and that a part of one pillow is in contact with the chamber wall just above the cam 24, as well as the cam portion 23, with part of the pillow resting against one of the vertical walls of the box 21. In other words, as the pillows are compressed in FIG. 4 from their position of FIG. 3, they will be cammed by the cam portion 24 inwardly into the box 21 because of the operation of the cam 23, 24.

Now, as the box cover 30 moves downwardly from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 5, its lower edges, designated by the reference numeral 40,

will obviously strike the cam portion 24 just as the cam portion was earlier contacted by the pillows in moving into the lower half of the box. As the lower edges strike the cam portion 24 they will be cammed inwardly against the pressure of the pillows and will move to the position illustrated in FIG. 5, where obviously the pillows P have been rather well compressed. The distance that the cover 30 will be moved into the box bottom 21 will depend on the number of pillows that have been stacked in the compression chamber, as shown in FIG. 3, the degree of compression desired, the type of pillows or ma.- terial that is being compressed, and the final dimensions of the fully packaged box that are desired.

Those skilled in the art will now appreciate that through the utilization of my invention it is quite simple to package compressible materials such as the pillows P in a box in which the cover of the box fits at least partially within the bottom of the box. Of course, other items may be packaged, and instead of pillows, I may use bags of other materials that are compressible and which present the same type of packaging problem.

It will naturally be understood that as the pillows P are being compressed, some provision must be made for the escape of air that is entrapped in the material contained within the pillows. For this purpose, the material in which the pillows are packaged in FIG. 2 is perforated with openings through which air may escape. -In order not to weaken the material, the openings are staggered as will be observed. As indicated in the earlier part of my specification, I use a particular type of bag material that is sold on the open market, but it should be emphasized here that other materials may be used so long as they do have that quality which will permit a very free movement between the packages as they are being compressed. For this purpose, an outer surface having very low resistance to rubbing contact with a similar surface is highly necessary. It may be possible to find many materials that will serve the purposes of my invention, and it is also well to appreciate that my invention may be practiced through the use of materials that will have considerable friction but which friction can be eliminated by coatings or applications of sprays etc. as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

In practicing the invention, the compression chamber is formed with laterally opening doors serving as walls, the bottom doors being illustrated in FIG. 6, and there designated by reference numerals 61 and 62. Through the use of lateral doors, it is possible to move the box por-- tion 21' into position over the base 22 as will be readily appreciated, and under the cam 23, 24. Further, the use of lateral doors for the chamber above the doors 61 and 62, makes possible the placing of the pillows. or other packages to be compressed in effective position for compression, as is rather obvious.

When the package is finally completed through the compression of the pillows to the position shown in FIG. 5, I prefer to bind the package through use of conventional strapping to yield the type of package shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Incidentally, in these figures it will be noted that the package bulges somewhat, so that bindings are useful. For the particular purpose, the platen 17 and the bottom 22 are slotted as illustrated, the slots in the platen 17 hearing reference numeral 64, while the slots in the bottom 22 bear the reference numeral 65. By passing steel bands 66 through the slots 64 and 65, the package illustrated in FIG. 7 may be formed, the bands being secured to one another in a conventional manner once they are wound about the package. End bands (not shown) may also be used.

It will be seen in FIG. 7 that the cover 30 has been inserted into the box portion 21 to a degree bringing the lower edge of box cover into the position shown at the line 40, this corresponding to the lower edge 40 of the box cover. In FIG. 8 it will be noted that this line 40 is considerably above that illustrated in FIG. 7, this being due to the fact that the compression of the pillows has not been as great in FIG. 8 as in FIG. 7, or in the alternative, that more pillows have been packaged in FIG. 8 than in FIG. 7, or that the compression that has taken place is not as great in FIG. 8 as in FIG. 7. I do believe that the contribution of my invention, the method of packaging I have developed, and the apparatus I have illustrated, will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A method of packaging a plurality of compressible packages in a contained formed of flexible material and comprising an open top box having a base wall and vertical side walls and a cover having a top Wall and vertical side walls for telescoping engagement within the side walls of said box that comprises placing said open box in the bottom of a pressure chamber with the vertical walls of the box juxtaposed to corresponding vertical walls of said chamber extending above said box, and with the side walls of said open box disposed beneath peripheral cam means upon the inner sides of said vertical walls of said chamber including downwardly facing ledge portions beneath which the upper edges of said vertical walls of said box are positioned and inclined cam portions extending from the inner sides of said vertical walls of said chamber above said cam means to the inner sides of said ledge portions, stacking in said box and in said chamber above said box a number of compressible packages, determing the number of packages to be deposited in said chamber and box in accordance with the volume of said box, the position to be occupied by the cover for the box, and the compression to be imparted to said packages, placing the box cover in said chamber with the vertical walls of said cover directed downwardly and overlying the packages at the top of the stack of packages in said chamber, applying downward pressure to said box cover for compressing said packages and thereby forcing said packages downwardly toward entry into said box, whereby the portions of said compressed packages in engagement with the vertical walls of said chamber above said cam means and the lowermost edges of the walls of said cover are pressed inwardly through engagement with said inclined portions of said cam means for escape past the upper edges of the walls of the box so as to facilitate entry thereof into said box.

2. In the method of claim 1, the feature that said packages are bags containing compressible material with openings in the bags for the escape of air.

3. In the method of calim 2, the feature that said bags are formed of material that permits free sliding movement of the bags relatively to one another and the box and cover so that the bags may during compression readily adjust their positions to one another and the box and its cover.

4. In the method of claim 1, the feature that said box and box top are of paperboard which must be held and guided to withstand the pressure of the bags being compressed.

5. In a combination of the class described, a packaging chamber having a bottom, vertical walls extend ing from said bottom, a pressure piston mounted at the top of the chamber for downward movement in the chamber, said chamber being adapted for housing therewithin an open box resting on the bottom of the chamber with vertical walls lying juxtaposed to the walls of said chamber, together with compressible packages piled into said box and for some distance above the box in said chamber, as well as a cover for the box having also vertical walls extending downwardly and overlying parts of the packages at the top of the pile, means for applying pressure movement to said piston to push downwardly on said box cover and compressible packages to force the walls of the cover into the inside of the box together with the packages under compression, and peripheral cam means upon the inner sides of said vertical walls of said chamber including downwardly facing ledge portions beneath which the upper edges of said vertical walls of said box are positioned and inclined cam portions extending from the iner sides of said vertical walls of said chamber above said cam means to the inner sides of said ledge portions for maintaining the vertical walls of said cover inwardly of said box walls as they reach the upper edges of the walls of the box, so as to permit said cover walls and the compressed packages positioned against the inside surfaces. thereof to enter said box.

6. In the combination of claim 5, the feature that the walls of said chamber contain and support the walls of the box and the downwardly extending walls of the cover against outer distortion by the pressure of the packages as they are compressed.

7. In the combination of claim 5', the feature that said maintaining means are portions of the walls of the chamber formed as cams to press the walls of the box cover into a position to escape the upper edges of the walls of the box as the cover is pressed downwardly.

8. In the combination of claim 5, the feature that said means for maintaining said cover walls inwardly also maintain said packages inwardly to escape the edges of the box walls for entry into the box.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,613,862; 10/1-9521 Vaughn. 3,458,966 8/1969 Dunbar 5324 3,475,879 11/1969 Merkel 5324 X 1,601,156 9/ 1926 Adelmann. 2,481,611 9/1949 Moore. 2,764,859 10/ 1956 Hanselmann. 2,870,954 1/1959 Kulesza. 3,307,320 3/ 1967 Harriss 5324 3,405,744 10/ 1968 Bowman 53124 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,395,509 3/1965 France.

252,667 6/-1964 Australia.

OTHER REFERENCES White, R.O.: Defensive Publication Application Ser. No. 663,321, filed Aug. 25, 1967, laid open to public inspection on Dec. 24, 1968, as noted at 857 0.6. 1039.

WAYNE A. MORSE, 111., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

